Democrat Annette Taddeo is running for Florida chief financial officer in the Nov. 3 general election against Republican incumbent Blaise Ingoglia.

Asked why she is seeking the office, Taddeo said in our candidate questionnaire: "Florida families are paying more for everything while Tallahassee looks the other way. … Homeowners are being crushed by the highest insurance rates in the nation, while insiders get billion-dollar no-bid contracts that have never been audited."

Candidate information

Party: Democrat

Education: Asked about her education, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "I worked as a waitress to put myself through the University of North Alabama, where I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Commercial Spanish/Business Administration. I later earned two executive education scholarships to the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, where I completed an Executive Education program and an Advanced Executive Education program."

Family: Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "When I was 17, my father, an American fighter pilot, was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in Colombia. That experience brought me to the United States. I moved to Florida in 1992, built my business here, and raised my family. My husband, Eric, and I live in Miami with my mom, Elizabeth, and our dogs, Snow and Mocha. Our daughter, Sofia, is away at university in Boston."

Experience and public service

Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "I was elected to the Florida Senate in a 2017 special election, flipping a Republican-held seat, and was reelected to a full four-year term in 2018 by six points. I was the first Latina Democrat ever elected to the Florida Senate. I served five years on the Banking and Insurance Committee, where I fought for the state to fund a study of the 'affiliate' companies insurers use to move profits …"

She also runs a business. Taddeo founded LanguageSpeak, a language services company, in 1995, according to Sparker's Soapbox. The company was recognized as one of Florida's Top 100 Small Businesses, according to the same source.

Taddeo chaired the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in 2012 and was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, according to her Wikipedia page.

On the issues

Insurance: Asked what she would do about property insurance costs, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "As CFO, I will publish a report card grading every insurance company within my first 100 days: how fast it pays claims, how often it delays or denies, how much of your premium goes to its own affiliates, and how financially sound it is. Every company, by name. After a hurricane, I will send storm strike teams from my department into hit communities within 3 to 5 days to help families push stalled claims."

Transparency: Asked about a specific change she would make to state spending transparency, Taddeo said: "Every state contract posted in the public FACTS database, as Florida law already requires. No exceptions, no hiding. … Contracts should never be kept out of public view by being labeled purchase orders." She added that she would "… audit emergency spending starting with the $1.2 billion spent on Alligator Alcatraz, publish what I find in plain language, and refer fraud or abuse for prosecution."

Key accomplishments: Asked what past accomplishments qualify her for the job, Taddeo cited her work on a homeowners association fraud case: "… I helped bring to justice one of the largest HOA frauds in American history, at the Hammocks in my district. … The result: guilty pleas in an $11 million theft and a new state law for homeowners."

The race is one of three Florida Cabinet seats on the November ballot.